


MERweek 2020

by WickedWitchoftheWilds



Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Mentions of Sex, Platonic Relationships, Pregnancy, merweek2020, relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-02
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:22:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24500749
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WickedWitchoftheWilds/pseuds/WickedWitchoftheWilds
Summary: Prompts from MERweek2020
Relationships: Akksul (Mass Effect)/Original Character(s), Evfra de Tershaav/Original Character(s), Jaal Ama Darav/Original Female Character(s), Original Characters & Original Characters, Park So Hee & Maggie Smith
Comments: 28
Kudos: 10





	1. First Impressions

So-Hee received the first note in the morning after she had made her coffee. The person she had brought home the night before was using her shower before they left, so she was alone in the kitchen when she spied the piece of folded paper sitting on her welcome mat. With her coffee in hand, she walked across her living room to grab the scrap of paper. She frowned. Who would leave her a note?

Footsteps drew her attention away from the note and she tucked it in her hand, while taking a sip of her coffee. Lucrius walked into the living room, wearing the same clothes he had on the night before. Not that there was another option for him. She didn’t keep clothes for other people. They might think it’s okay to stay.

“You working tonight?” he asked.

She nodded. “Just filling in for Alecia again,” she answered.

“Keep it up, they might hire you full-time,” he teased, his hand moving down her backside. “You certainly are the best-looking bartender there.”

So-Hee snorted, rolling her eyes. “Don’t let Alecia hear you say that. It would hurt her feelings.”

“She’s cute too,” he said. “But she doesn’t—”

So-Hee swatted his hand. “Don’t you have boots to lick this early in the morning C-Sec?”

He scoffed. “Big words coming from someone going into the Alliance.”

“Just get out,” she said, laughing.

“I’ll see you tonight?” he asked, his subvocals tinged with hope.

“Maybe.” She shrugged, knowing that he hoped to see her after her shift at the bar. “If you’re good,” she teased.

She should’ve known better. It took another minute to convince him to go out the door and go to work instead of taking her back to bed. She didn’t even think of the note until she was sitting on her couch with the coffee and she realized it was still curled up in her hand. Setting her coffee down on the side table, she unfolded the note.

“Could you please keep the noise down?”

Scoffing, she crumpled up the paper and tossed it on the coffee table. Whoever they were, they clearly didn’t have the guts enough to knock on her door and say it. They resorted to passive-aggressive bullshit. No. She wouldn’t keep the noise down. And if they didn’t like it, they could come speak to her face to face.

The note slipped her mind once her shift rolled around. The bar was busy as usual, and she didn’t have time to think about anything except filling orders and threatening patrons that got too rowdy. They were always willing to push her buttons until they realized she didn’t need security to throw them out. Nine hours later and all she cared about was taking her after-hours shots and letting Lucrius escort her home.

She didn’t think of it when Lucrius stripped her the moment they entered her apartment because he was impatient. Or when he bent her over the kitchen counter, his talons digging into her hips. It was until after their second round, when they were laying in her bed half-asleep that she thought of the note again. She smirked before falling asleep.

Another note appeared a few days later. As soon as she saw it, she balled it up and tossed it down the trash chute. If they didn’t like her noise they could invest in headphones.

It continued like this for a week. A note would appear, she would give it a cursory glance and throw it out. They were just starting to annoy her at this point. If they had come to her, she wouldn’t have had any problem curbing her noise as much as possible. But now she went out of her way to make a racket even if she was spending the night alone.

After seven days of receiving the notes, she had enough. She went to the neighbor on her right first and knocked on the door. But he didn’t know anything about the notes and noted her bedroom was too far away for him to hear much. Also, he worked nights, and therefore it couldn’t have been him complaining. That only left the neighbor on her left. When she mentioned that, he chuckled and wished her “good luck.”

More confused than annoyed now, she walked to the door of her other neighbor and knocked. She was met with silence. It wasn’t until she heard a knock a second time that she heard someone shuffling about. So-Hee pressed her ear against the door. “Hello?” she called, knocking on the door again. “I can hear you in there. I’m not leaving until you open the door.”

There was complete silence again and So-Hee huffed in frustration. What was their problem? “Look, I’m not looking to fight, but you clearly have something to say to me. We can continue with the bullshit and you can find out how loud I can be, or you can open the door and talk to me.”

She heard someone move around the room until they were standing right next to the door. But the door still didn’t open. Crossing her arms, she leaned against the doorframe and waited until the door opened a fraction. The sliver of an opening only gave way to darkness. She couldn’t see anything, least of all the person that was standing there, but she knew they were there.

“Hello?” she said, bracing her hand against the door so they couldn’t shut it again.

“Please don’t come in,” a timid voice replied.

So-Hee paused. “Okay…do you want to tell me who you are?”

“No,” they answered. “It’s not important. Just please keep your noise down. It’s hard for me to do anything when you’re always so loud.”

“There, that wasn’t so hard was it?” So-Hee murmured, trying to focus on something—anything—in the darkened room.

“Yes, now will you please leave and be rude somewhere else—”

“Rude!” So-Hee barked. “I’m not the one who decided slipping notes under someone’s door was an effective method of communication.”

“At least I’m not vulgar,” they argued. “Now go away!” Their hand appeared from the darkness and pushed on her shoulder. If she didn’t have such a firm grip on the door she would’ve stumbled back. But the push told her that they were strong. Like her.

Someone like her.

So-Hee pushed herself through the gap in the door and into the room. She could hear them take a step back. When the door closed behind her, they were both standing in complete darkness. “Who are you?” she asked. “How are you so strong?”

“None of your business,” they whispered. “Please get out.”

“I’m strong too,” she said, ignoring them. “Really strong. I’m…I’ve never met someone like me before—”

“I’m _not_ like you.”

“I mean different,” she corrected. She wanted to see this person. If their apartments were similar then there should be a light switch beside the door. So-Hee reached behind her, her fingers traveling the wall close to the door until she found it. The light blinded her briefly, making her blink until she could focus again.

She stared at the girl standing in front of her. Copper red hair was pulled back into a messy braid. Reddish-brown eyes glinted in the light to where they almost looked gold. Freckles stretched across the pale skin of her face and dotted her neck until they disappeared into her hoodie. They just stared at each other. So-Hee wasn’t expecting someone so unassuming, and someone that looked so intimidated. But then again, So-Hee had pushed her away inside.

It took a good minute for her to notice how green the apartment was. Plants covered nearly every surface. A coffee table was lined with pots and succulents of varying sizes. Pots were spaced across the floor, some were filled with luscious green plants—some with flowers and some without—and some only had soil in them. There were even plants hanging from the ceiling.

“You know…I think there’s a weed guy downstairs if you’re into that. This,” –she gestured to the plants— “seems a little excessive,” she joked.

The girl scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’m a botany student. And it’s not like you were invited in. You can leave anytime.”

“Are you always like this?” So-Hee asked.

She crossed her arms over her chest and frowned at So-Hee.

“What’s your name?” So-Hee asked, wanting to know everything she could about this person. Were they just strong? Were they more than that? Were they born like this, or made in a lab like Alec had told her? She was damn near vibrating with curiosity.

“Maggie,” she girl whispered. “My name is Maggie.”

“I’m So-Hee—”

“I know,” Maggie interrupted. “The people you bring home aren’t quiet either.”

So-Hee laughed. “It’s nice to meet you, Maggie,” she said, excitement brewing in her chest. “It’s really nice.”

_I’m not alone._


	2. Hobbies

Evfra stared down on the ridiculously small controller. Well, it was small to him. One of his fingers nearly covered two buttons at once. So-Hee seemed to find it funny as well. She was staring at him with a smile on her face. For weeks she had hinted that she wanted to play games with him. He had watched her many times playing old games from her home. And while some of them were interesting to watch, he didn’t think he would be very good at playing. Now that he had a controller in hand, he was even more certain.

“I’m okay just watching you play,” he grumbled.

“Don’t worry, Evfra. I won’t choose anything hard for you to play. And you can take as much time as you want getting used to the controller,” she said, rubbing his arm.

He sighed.

“Besides…Jaal is pretty tech savvy. Maybe he and Emma can come up with something better for you,” she continued leaning her head on his arm. “And if you really don’t like it after trying then I won’t ask again.”

“Fine,” he grunted. “I’ll try it.”

If she didn’t like video games so much he wouldn’t even bother. But she was trying to find ways for him to relax while at home, and also find something they can share. Because of that, and of her, he would try it earnestly.

So-Hee cycled through the games—he wondered how she had so much time to download and play all of them—and selected a game he had seen her play often. And she wasn’t kidding when she said she would take it easy on him. He watched her select a game he had seen her play before. It was a game she had played while recovering from injuries, and at that time it seemed to help her mitigate her stress as much as she could.

She selected a new save for him—she wanted to see him create his own island and see what he would come up with—and sat back while walking him through the basic controls. Evfra didn’t expect to find himself so invested in the game. But as he fished and caught bugs, he didn’t realize the time drifted away from him. Or that So-Hee had dozed off next to him, her head resting on his thigh.

It was until he was trying to catch another large fish—cursing under his breath when it escaped from him again—that he felt So-Hee roll over until the back of her head was on his thigh. “Listen for the sound,” she muttered, her voice still thick with sleep.

He looked down at her realizing the room had grown dark. The light from the interface made her skin glow. She was staring up at him, her lips curved into a small smile. “Wait for the _plonk_ sound and then hit the button,” she said. “It’ll make fishing easier.”

“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I didn’t mean to—”

She shook her head, reaching up to touch his cheek with her hand. “Did you have fun?”

He nodded.

“Good,” she whispered. “I wanted you to relax.”

“Thank you,” he said, setting the controller beside him so he could run his fingers through her hair. “I’d like to this more often.”

She grinned. “I was hoping you’d say that. Just wait until I introduce you to other games.”


	3. MEA+OT AU

**Journal Entry #6**

**Hellhole to the left, Kadara**

“I think about Commander Jane Shepard often. Especially since I have so much time on my hands being an exile with a grumpy Krogan partner, but I digress…

I think about the surprise on her face when she found me in that facility. I think about the distress in her face when she saw me—covered in blood—and still cried out to her soldiers “it’s just a child.” She could’ve struck me down then, well she could’ve tried at least, but she didn’t. In an instant, I wasn’t a thing anymore.

I was a person for the first time.

When her soldiers, her peers, looked at me in fear. She walked me through the Normandy like I was any other person. No…like I was someone she had to protect. Sure, Alec Ryder saved me and gave me a name. But Jane Shepard gave me personhood. She walked with me into a shower because I was afraid. It didn’t even matter that her uniform got soaked and her crimson hair stuck to her cheek. She washed the blood from my hands and I walked out of the shower clean for the first time.

Not an experiment.

Deserving of a life and a childhood without fear.

That was her argument for the council. I remember her stiff shoulders and the barely contained fury on her face as they decided whether I was worthy of living. And I remember the relief when they decided I would be placed in Alec’s care. Sometimes I wonder how different things would be if I had been placed in hers.

Would I have even left for Andromeda?

Kadara is disgustingly hot and sandy. I hate it. I’ve killed people for food, for shelter, for money. I think Alec’s abandoned me. Or maybe the arcs are gone. DOA. Regret fills me every time I wake up in this fucking place. This isn’t how my life was supposed to be. It’s not how I imagined it. And if Alec really isn’t coming then…

I’m alone.

And I’m scared. Would Shepard have been scared?

No.

Not of this.

I’m sure Shepard would be disappointed in me right now. I would deal with it if it meant she was here. If it meant I had a place I could go. A home. A sanctuary. Somewhere I belonged. And with someone who knows what I am, what I’m capable of, and they’re not scared of me.

So if you’re out there Shepard…

Please save me one more time.

_Emma_


	4. We Are Family

So-Hee yawned, trying not to fall asleep on the couch. It was another day alone in Evfra’s home—well it was also hers now—and she was already bored and couldn’t wait for him to come home. But the doorbell ringing made her sit up. It wasn’t often that people came by at all, let alone when she was by herself. She stood up from the couch and warily made her way to the door. The interface beside the door flickered and she touched it to open the camera view.

When she saw who was outside, she quickly unlocked the door. “Surprise!” Rui greeted loudly, earning a swat to the arm from Irma.

“She’s clearly surprised,” Irma said. “You don’t have to shout.”

So-Hee couldn’t help the way her eyes were drawn to Irma’s belly. It had been at least a month since they had seen each other, but Irma looked ready to pop. “Come in,” she said, standing back to let them in. “I would’ve come to get you from the docks if I’d known you were coming.”

“We wanted it to be a surprise,” Irma replied. “And the Commander gave us good directions to get back here.”

Despite Irma being able to walk fine on her own, Rui was right behind her, his arms halfway out and ready to assist her. She sat down on the couch and immediately Rui snagged some of the pillows to cushion her. A small laugh left So-Hee at Irma’s face. She pretended to be annoyed, but the moment Rui looked away her expression softened.

So-Hee moved around the coffee table to sit on the other side of Irma. “How’s Eos treating you?” she asked.

“It’s hot,” Irma answered.

“And sandy,” Rui added.

“But hopefully it won’t stay like that forever,” Irma said. “The soils constantly getting better. We’ve even seen patches of grass and flowers, like real green grasses.” She sighed. “But it has a long way to go. You’re so lucky you get to live on Aya.”

“Yes, right next to a shit ton of volcanic activity,” Rui snorted.

“And with the Commander,” Irma continued, winking at So-Hee.

“I am sitting right here you know,” Rui complained.

Irma laughed, reaching for his hand until their fingers were interlaced. “I know. I’m teasing you,” she squeezed his hand gently. “But speaking of the Commander, how are you doing here?” she asked So-Hee.

“Good,” So-Hee said. “I’m doing really good here…with him.”

“I’m really happy for you So-Hee,” Irma said. “You’ll have to catch us up one everything—”

Rui nudged her gently with his shoulder and she paused. “But there’s a reason we came to see you.”

“Is something wrong?” So-Hee asked.

They shook their heads. “No,” Rui answered. “But it was too important to ask over message.”

So-Hee brows furrowed in confusion. “Ask?”

Irma took a deep breath. “Rui and I have been talking a lot about having a baby here and not having our families. We want to make sure we plan for anything, and we want to make sure the children we have will feel at home here…” she trailed off.

“We asked Helayphea and Octanus to be guardians should anything ever happen to us,” Rui picked up where she left off. “And they said yes. But, APEX…we’re all a giant family and we—”

“Will you be an aunt?” Irma blurted out the question. “I don’t know how you feel about kids and now I’m thinking I should’ve asked, but you’re important to us So-Hee. You’re not just our Lieutenant, but our friend and we…oh no…”

Irma trailed off at the look on So-Hee’s face. The look of complete and utter disbelief. They couldn’t be asking her, could they? But they seemed serious. Even so, So-Hee had a hard time they would ask a massive walking disaster such as herself to be anywhere near their child, let alone as family. Despite her disbelief, she felt the tears well up at their request.

“Maybe you’re not interested,” Irma murmured, dropping her gaze. “It’s okay, you don’t have to say—”

“Yes.”

Irma looked back up so So-Hee furiously blinking back tears. Letting out a sigh of relief, Irma sagged back into the pillows. Rui grinned. “Now you’ll never get rid of us.”

So-Hee laughed. No, she wouldn’t and that was perfectly fine with her. They were her friends too even if she was still learning how to have more than one friend.

And maybe So-Hee didn’t deserve it. But she would be the best damn aunt she could be.


	5. Emotional Moment

The car was silent. So-Hee fidgeted in her seat, tugging at the hem of her dress. Her face was dried out and raw at the same time from crying. It felt like all she had done the past few days was cry. So much so, that she felt like a failure next to her composed mother. Her mother didn’t even cry at the funeral. The only time So-Hee saw her cry was shortly after the policeman walked off their front porch and her mother had collapsed in a heap behind their closed door. Since then, her mother’s face was like stone.

The funeral had been huge. So many people that wanted to mourn her father, so many people that he had somehow affected wanted to pay their respects. People she didn’t know, and wouldn’t remember, approached her. Their words blurred together into a ball of “we’re so sorry for your loss” and “he’ll be missed.” She knew all that. It was her father that was gone. He had disappeared from her life in an instant.

But the days after the funeral were the worst. Everyone told her things would have to go back to normal. That the world had to keep going. How could it? He was such a large part of her, how could she be expected to just pick up where she left off?

Her mother was no help.

Even when her father was around, her mother wasn’t loving, wasn’t affectionate. The death, the funeral, did nothing to change that. In fact, So-Hee barely saw her after the funeral. She was gone when So-Hee woke and wouldn’t return home until well after dinnertime. Upon walking in the door, she would look at the meal So-Hee had set out for her on the dinner table. And then she’d just shut herself in her room.

For a week, So-Hee didn’t go to school. She barely got out of bed. The only reason she left her room was because the rest of the apartment was empty. It’s not like she would run into her mother during the day. Even if her mother did notice, So-Hee didn’t think she would care.

She was wrong.

It was a Saturday morning when So-Hee was woken by her mother setting a suitcase on the end of her bed. So-Hee pulled her knees to her chest so her toes wouldn’t touch the suitcase. “Eomma?” she muttered, biting back a yawn.

But her mother didn’t answer. She just unzipped the suitcase and laid it out on the bed. Without talking to So-Hee—or even looking at her—her mother began to open her dresser drawers and pulling out clothes. So-Hee sat up to kick off her blankets.

“Are we leaving?” she asked.

Turning back, her mother dumped an armful of So-Hee’s clothes into the suitcase. “You’re going to your grandmother’s.”

That was it. No explanation. Nothing. So-Hee didn’t miss that her mother said only So-Hee was going somewhere. _Is she mad at me?_ “Eomma?” she repeated, her voice trembling this time. “Did I do something wrong?”

Her mother sighed, throwing another armful into the suitcase. “I don’t have time for this. I’m taking you to your grandmother’s. I need you packed and ready to go in thirty minutes.” Her mother’s omnitool pinged and she looked down at it.

So-Hee sniffed, her nose burning as tears began to fill her eyes. What had she done? Is it because she didn’t go to school? Was she going to her grandmother’s as a punishment? Or was it something else? She stayed silent as her mom answered a message, her fingers swiping over the interface. Maybe if she apologized her mother wouldn’t be so upset. So-Hee loved her grandmother, but she didn’t want to go. Not like this.

Her mother finally looked up. “Wipe your face,” she ordered. “You want to help me out? Finish packing your clothes. We have to leave.”

“I’m sorry—”

“I don’t want to hear it,” her mother snapped. “Just do as I say, So-Hee! It’s time you grow up and stop crying like a baby when you don’t get your way.” Her mother pointed to the suitcase. “Pack.”

With that, she left So-Hee alone in the room. She wiped the sleeve of her shirt across her face, the tears pouring down her cheeks now. Trying to keep quiet as she cried, she pulled the rest of her clothes from her dresser and her closet. She folded them as quickly as she could to fit them into the suitcase. Even with her best effort, they barely fit. And they didn’t leave room for anything else. Was she coming back? Would she be able to have the rest of her stuff?

Looking around to make sure her mother wasn’t coming, So-Hee pulled some of the clothes out and shoved them under her blanket. Hopefully, her mother wouldn’t check. She grabbed her stuffed cat and shoved it into the suitcase under a few shirts. There was no way she was leaving Mr. Stuffins behind. Her father had gifted it to her years ago. And he went where she went.

As soon as she had the suitcase zipped, her mother came back in. “Let’s go.”

With the suitcase in hand, she trailed behind her mother as they left the apartment and walked down the stairs. Her mother kept checking the time on her omnitool. Probably making sure they wouldn’t be late for the shuttle to Earth. Her mother was silent on the tram, and then she was silent on the shuttle—although So-Hee dozed off for most of the trip—and then she was silent in the cab to Halmeoni’s house.

Nothing was said until they were standing at the door and her mother rang the doorbell. “You’ll behave for your grandmother.” It wasn’t a question or a request.

“Yes,” So-Hee whispered.

“I have things to take care of,” her mother said. “I’ll come for you when I’m done. Until then you have to be a big girl. Do you understand?”

So-Hee sniffed. “Yes.”

The door opened and the smell of Halmeoni’s cooking made her stomach growl. Not once had they stopped to eat on the trip and she was hungry. Her grandmother stared at her mother, her face a smooth mask, but the moment she laid eyes on So-Hee she broke into a smile and held out her arms. So-Hee loved her grandmother. Her eyes were warm and she always smelled good. And she gave the best hugs. So-Hee launched herself into Halmeoni’s arms.

“You have my number if you need anything,” her mother said, interrupting the hug.

“I do,” Halmeoni replied, her voice cool. “But I think I can manage.”

“Yes, I’m sure,” her mother replied. “I have to go now. You remember our talk So-Hee?”

So-Hee nodded, her face still pressed against her grandmother’s abdomen. That was enough. Her mother quietly turned and walked back to the waiting taxi. No hug. No goodbye. She just got in the car and she was gone. So-Hee felt Halmeoni sigh under her cheek, but when she looked up at her grandmother, she was still smiling down at So-Hee.

“Are you ready to see your room?” she asked. “And I’m sure you’re hungry.”

So-Hee nodded, grabbing her suitcase again. Taking it from her, Halmeoni grabbed So-Hee’s hand instead and they walked into the house. The house was as was big as she remembered. They walked up the stairs to the left and stopped at a closed door. With a nudge, Halmeoni opened the door and So-Hee gasped.

The entire room was purple. Her room on the Citadel was sparsely decorated. And she was never allowed to paint the walls. But the walls here were a light lavender, and one of the walls sparkled in the sunlight. A bed was pushed against the wall and it looked soft with the dark purple comforter and matching pillows. Sheer, glittery purple curtains hung in the windows. She had a dresser too, but it was just a dark wood. Still, she loved it.

“I know purple is your favorite,” Halmeoni said. “But I wanted to wait until you got here to decorate it.” She walked past So-Hee to place the suitcase on the bed. When she opened it her face fell. “Clothes…” she sighed. “I guess I won’t have to get you many clothes soon.”

So-Hee reached in and pulled Mr. Stuffins out from the suitcase to hug him to her chest. Halmeoni reached up to run her fingers through So-Hee’s hair. “At least you were able to bring him. But it looks like we’ll have to go shopping. How would you like that?”

With a nod, So-Hee stepped into her grandmother’s arms again. The tears she had bit back the entire trip came bursting forth. But there were no reprimands here. Her grandmother didn’t tell her to wipe her face or to stop crying. She just held So-Hee in her arms and patted So-Hee’s back every time she hiccupped.

“My poor So-Hee…I’ve got you. I’m here.”


	6. Disagreement

The air between them is frigid. It should be an impossibility given how warm Aya is, even at night. But not for Evfra and So-Hee. Not after the words they had slung at each other in his office while his soldiers tried their best to look on. Words that went from simply disagreeing to ones that bared each other’s flaws for everyone else. For So-Hee, it was not her proudest moment.

But that didn’t mean she was going to apologize first.

Their shared home—once a safe and loving space—looms in front of them. Now it seems too small to handle them both. They would be too close and their jagged edges from the argument would just serve to further wound each other. It’s something that shouldn’t happen in their home.

And it’s something that reminds her too much of the arguments that would filter through a small house on Earth. Ones that she would hide from, using her blanket as her only defense. But the anger and the cutting words still ricocheted through the house. Words her parents thought were contained, but they wounded her as much as they wounded each other.

She didn’t want that with Evfra.

So-Hee stopped in her tracks a few feet from the front door. He wasn’t looking at her, but he stopped when she did. While he was only a foot in front of her, it felt like he was miles away. That she could stretch as far as she could but it wouldn’t ever be enough to reach him. She wouldn’t be enough.

Maybe that’s what the argument really was. Her glaring inadequacies and their incompatibility. Of course, she knew there was a chance she would fuck this up. It seemed it was finally happening. If that were the case, she should be prepared. But she just wanted to cry.

“Are you coming in?” he asked, his voice still harsh, but now gravelly.

“No,” she choked out, blinking back tears.

“Why?” He still wasn’t looking at her. “Is it that bad to be in the same space with me now? Am I too _stubborn_ and _set in my ways_ for you to live with me?” he threw her words back at her. “Or is it that I’m an _asshole_?”

“Evfra, I—”

“Do you think I’m so stoic that I cannot be hurt by these things?” he demanded, finally turning to face her. “Or do you think I would be okay taking it just because it comes from you? That my love for you means that I will be okay knowing you hold such opinions about me.”

So-Hee flinched. “No, I—”

“I’m not,” he interrupted, answering his own questions. “It hurts me more knowing that you let your contempt for me build to this point. That somehow, I was not worth coming to before this happened. And that a simple disagreement couldn’t be managed without devolving into this.” He gestured to the both of them.

When So-Hee didn’t say anything, she didn’t know where to start, he shook his head and turned back towards the home. Without even waiting to see if she would follow, he walked the last stretch to the door and began to input the code. But she didn’t follow. She didn’t want to go in there. Not like this. She didn’t want this in their home.

So-Hee moved—reaching across the chasm between them—and wrapped her arms around his waist. Her forehead rested against his back. Evfra paused, not moving and not shaking her off. “I’m sorry,” she murmured. _I didn’t mean those things. I don’t know why I said those things._ Excuses. Every normal platitude that whispered in her mind was just an excuse. And that wouldn’t work. Not with him. Not for her. “You are stubborn—”

His back tensed. “I—”

“But it’s one of the things I like most about you,” she continued. “You’re stubborn and you persist and you survive. You were stubborn when it came to me, even when I didn’t want the help or the care. Even when I pushed you away and hurt you on purpose.” She paused. “I’m…really good at hurting people regardless of why. It’s the first thing I go for to defend myself and it’s not right.”

“No it isn’t,” he murmured, agreeing with her. “And it’s not that I don’t understand why you do these things, So-Hee. But it isn’t fair if you think I have to take it just because I love you.”

“I don’t,” she promised, sniffing. “I don’t want to hurt you. And I know I have to do better.” She sighed. “I just don’t want to go into the house like this…I don’t want something like this in our home. It lingers.”

His hand covered hers, his fingers gently prying her hands apart so he could turn around and face her. “Then it won’t,” he promised, cupping her face. “We’ll leave it here, agreed?”

She nodded. “I really love you Evfra.”

“I know, So-Hee,” he leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I know.”


	7. Celebrations (Headcanons)

**Emma:**

Jaal celebrates Emma every single day they’re together. But even still, when their one-year anniversary rolls around he spends the entire week being extra affectionate and loving. When the actual day rolls around he has planned a day for them on Havarl to explore a romantic location with no interruptions. He is so focused on making everything perfect for her, that he is surprised when she has a gift of her own for him. It’s an interlocking ring set, one for her and one for him. Angaran meditation crystals that have been cut to size are interlaid in the metal. They glow when charged with bioelectricity and are brightest when they are together. Jaal chokes when he accepts, but he suddenly worries if the ring he had made for her would be enough. He saves it for another moment. Just to be sure.

**Maggie:**

Akksul and Maggie have only been seeing each other six months now. There are many things he still fumbles, and sometimes he is stricken by how enamored he is with an alien. But he adores Maggie, and even more surprising to him, she loves him. So when he reads about anniversaries being important, he immediately knows what he wants to do for her. Maybe it’s too much, but he knows she’ll like it. At least, he hopes she will. His mother thinks so too, and the family is instructed to help him while keeping it a secret from Maggie. On the day, she shows up and is surprised when she only sees Akksul at home. He leads her outside with his hands over her eyes, telling her how much he cares for her, and how he wants to nurture and grow his love with her every day. When he shows her the small greenhouse, she bursts into tears and he briefly wonders if he chose wrong. But when she kisses him, his doubts dissipate. Maybe soon he’ll have the courage to ask her to move in.

**So-Hee:**

Evfra doesn’t get anniversaries, and he isn’t planning on doing anything. He wouldn’t even know when their anniversary would be. Does the first time they had sex count? Or does it start from the time they start to officially date? Doing something every six months seems to be excessive, and Evfra elects not to do anything. But when he wakes up one day, he decides he does want to do something nice for her. Not just because it could possibly be an anniversary, but because he wonders if he does enough nice things for her. He is still getting used to being with someone. That morning, he decides not to go into the office since nothing is happening currently and lets his Lieutenants take some of the work for the day. He spends the entire day with her. Sure, they laze around while she shows him more shows from Earth, but it is nice nonetheless since they don’t get to do so often. Later he tells her how appreciative he is of her and that she is in his life. She teases him for being soft, but the way she kisses him is softer.

**Author's Note:**

> All kudos, comments, and bookmarks are loved! I hope you guys enjoyed this update.
> 
> You should totally come hang out with me on [Tumblr!](https://wickedwitchofthewilds.tumblr.com)
> 
> And you can follow me on Twitter @WildsWicked


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